Broken Record
by Coofis
Summary: Life as Frieza's soldier is an endless brutal cycle, and Vegeta has to live it—day after day after day.


_I'm a little nervous about posting this, to be honest. I don't know how it will be received. But I'm posting it here anyway because it's still my creation, and even if people don't like it or understand it, at least I had fun experimenting with this idea. (FYI: the irregular format is intentional. Tell me what you think in a review!)_

Wake up at four-thirty to the shrill insistent beeping of a scouter. Get out of bed. Turn on the light. Make the (thin, hard) bed with military exactness. Dress in a bodysuit that chafes against the skin; pull on gloves; step into flat-soled boots. Tug a chest plate over your head. Slip your scouter over one eye to change the world into a nauseating patchwork of red and white.

Take a deep, ragged breath. Exit the barracks and step into the high-ceilinged corridor lit by cold electric light. Thrust shoulders back, lift head, walk with a purpose.

Find an empty training room. Sweat and bleed and work until your muscles strain and quiver and the only thing keeping you standing is your own hate. Collapse, an hour later, muscles moving in random spastic jerks, eyes blurring and refocusing on the tile floor against which you are pinned like a bug.

Force your way up until you are standing by sheer will and move to the door and exit. Taste blood. Spit a wad of phlegm and blood on the floor. Force your shoulders back again; act like the prince you are.

Go to the mess hall. Shovel in whatever slop's available. Ignore Raditz's crude jokes. Ignore Nappa completely.

Go to the hangar. Get into your pod. "Prepare for takeoff." Shut your eyes as the force of the thrusters renders you immobile against the well-worn seat cushion. "Activate stasis gas." Press the button. Shut your eyes again as the gas overtakes every one of your senses and shutters your mind. Sleep, dreamless, in a cold and silent void.

Wake up. "Prepare for landing." Watch as the planet fills the window. Brace yourself for impact. Exit the pod. Squint through the dust at the city ahead. Power up. Feel the earth quake beneath you. Fire blast after blast into the throng. Feast on their screams. Smell the blood. Taste the blood. Feel it and the entrails squishing under your boots. Laugh, madly, deliriously, until your own laughter supersedes the screams and then there are no more screams, only your own hoarse iterations echoing amid all the smoke and stink and shattered glass.

Fly to your pod. Get into your pod. Activate your scouter. "Set your coordinates to 0995343-R." Press buttons. "Prepare for takeoff." Shut your eyes. "Activate stasis gas." Press the button. Sleep. Dream that you are drowning in a lake of blood. Wake up. "Prepare for landing." Watch as the ship fills the window. Brace yourself for impact. Exit the pod.

Go to Master Frieza's throne room. Kneel on the cold, hard tile with your head bowed and your fists clenching and unclenching. "Tell me your status." Tell Master Frieza the purge was a success. Hit against the wall with a crack and slide down. Spit blood. "Listen to instructions!" Say "Yes, Master Frieza." Hear that you are a failure. Hear that you are supposed to leave one third of the population alive next time. Say "Yes, Master Frieza." Choke as Master Frieza wraps his tail around your throat and suspends you in the air and squeezes. "Apologize." Shake your head. Clutch feebly at the tail as Master Frieza tightens his hold. "Apologize, you stupid monkey." Try to shake your head, but fail. Know that you are a failure. Know that you will always be a failure. Black out from lack of oxygen.

Wake up. Step out of the rejuvenation chamber. Dry yourself off with a flash of ki. Dress in the bodysuit and gloves and boots. Pull on the chest plate. Slip on your scouter. Find a training room. Slug Nappa in the jaw until he can't talk. Slug Raditz in the jaw until he can't talk.

Go to the mess hall. Eat alone this time.

Step into the corridor. Thrust your shoulders back. Walk like you still have a throne. Enter the barracks. Take off the boots and gloves and chest plate and scouter. Turn off the light. Get into bed. Sleep and dream of screaming people and a burnt-out husk of a city and Master Frieza driving his fist into your solar plexus over and over and over until you can't get up and floating faces and blood rolling down your arms.

Wake up gasping for air you can no longer breathe. Get out of bed. Turn on the light. Make the bed. Dress. Exit the barracks. Thrust back shoulders. Walk down the corridor. Find a training room. Train. Collapse. Get up. Go to the mess hall. Eat. Go to the hangar. Get into your pod. "Prepare for takeoff." Shut your eyes. "Activate stasis gas." Press the button. Sleep. Wake up. "Prepare for landing." Watch the planet. Brace for impact. Exit the pod. Power up. Fire blast after blast. Feast on the screams. Laugh. Laugh more. Laugh until you double over. Fly to your pod. Get into your pod. Activate your scouter. "Set your coordinates." Press buttons. "Prepare for takeoff." Shut your eyes. "Activate stasis gas." Press the button. Sleep. Wake up. "Prepare for landing." Watch. Brace. Exit. Go to throne room. Kneel. "Tell me your status." Tell. Go away. Find training room. Train. Collapse. Get up. Go to mess hall. Eat. Step into corridor. Thrust back shoulders. Walk. Enter barracks. Undress. Turn off light. Get into bed. Sleep. Dream.

Wake up get out of bed turn on light make bed dress put on scouter breathe exit barracks thrust shoulders back walk find training room train collapse get up go to mess hall eat go to hangar get into pod prepare for takeoff shut eyes activate stasis gas press button sleep dream wake up prepare for landing watch brace exit power up fire feast laugh laugh laugh fly to pod get into pod activate scouter set coordinates press buttons prepare for takeoff shut eyes activate stasis gas press button sleep wake up prepare for landing watch brace exit go to throne room kneel tell status fall to floor know you are a stupid monkey failure know you will always be a stupid monkey failure black out wake up dress train collapse get up go to mess hall eat step into corridor thrust shoulders back walk enter barracks undress turn off light get into bed wakegetturnmakedressputbreatheexitthrustwalkfindtraincollapsegetgoeatgogetprepareshutactivatepresssleepwakepreparewatchbrace

exitpowerupfirefeastlaughlaughlaughflygetactivatesetpressprepareshutactivatepresssleepwakepreparewatchbraceexitgokneeltellgofind

traincollapsegetgoeatstepthrustwalkenterundressturngetsleepdreamwake


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